Former US President Barack Obama has criticized the Trump administration for mishandling the coronavirus crisis, saying the pandemic has shown many officials "arent even pretending to be in charge."
"More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain that so many of the folks in charge know what theyre doing. A lot of them arent even pretending to be in charge," he said in an online address to graduating college students on Saturday.
The latest remarks mark the second time in recent days that the former president has hit out at the Trump administrations handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
During a leaked conference call last week, Obama said that the governments response had been "an absolute chaotic disaster."
The Trump administration has been widely criticized for the worsening crisis, yet White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany touted Trumps work Saturday, saying in a statement to CNN that "President Trumps unprecedented coronavirus response has saved lives."
The virus has so far infected over 1,507,000 and killed more than 90,000 people across the United States.
In his Saturday commencement address to graduates of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), Obama, a former civil rights lawyer and community organizer, also touched upon the impact of the disease on black communities across the United States.
"Lets be honest, a disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country," said Obama. "We see it in the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on our communities."
He went on to say that the injustices against African Americans were not new, pointing to the recent high-profile killing an unarmed black jogger in a Georgia neighborhood.
Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot by a white former police officer and his son on February 23 while running in the Satilla Shores neighborhood in Brunswick.
A video, leaked more than two months after the incident, showed the killing of Arbery and sparked protests nationwide.
The two assailants were finally arrested on the 7th of May, 74 days after the incident and now face charges or murder and aggravated assault in Arberys killing.
SOURCE: PRESS TV
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/17670
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